"I've never felt an anaconda before," he said, having just arrived at the Gulf Coast Reptile Expo.

It's his favorite reptile, Stevie said. And his favorite movie, of course, is "Anaconda."

"They're prehistoric," he said. "And that's kind of the only dinosaurs we have. They'll always be around."

View full size(Press-Register/Kate Mercer)Tyler Orr of Ty's Geckos holds one of his crested geckosThe show, which also runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, features 19 exhibits with hairy spiders, black scorpions, green birds, blue frogs, yellow lizards, white snakes and Terrence, the $3,000 owl monkey. There also were mice, rats and crickets. Or what the reptiles would call "lunch."

And pretty much every creature was available for sale or trade.

Stevie had purchased a marble gecko at the show, but had yet to name it.

"The reason I enjoy having them -- they're different," he said. "Having a 15-foot snake is more adventurous."

As they did Saturday, Reno and his wife, Starla, spend a lot of their time at shows educating people about the giant reptiles they carry, and the little ones, like baby chameleons, too.

He showed off Sunburst, a tiger reticulated python, and Andy, a yellow and black anaconda.

People often have misconceptions about reptiles, such as, "that snakes are evil," Starla Reno said. "They think they're slimy or that a lot of them are venomous. If a snake doesn't have a reason to bite, it won't. If you get bit, it's normally your fault."

While pythons like Robbie can grow to become the longest snakes in the world, the show Saturday also featured some of the tiniest creatures --snakes that could wrap around your pinky.

Randall Forister breeds pythons at his home in the Eight Mile community, and he brought a 7-foot long 6-month-old to trade

He found an orange Honduran milk snake and made the exchange.

"It's all in preference," he said. "Some people want dogs. Some people want spiders. I got snakes."